Stakeholders in the fruits and vegetable industry have called on the Federal Government to establish a special task force to curb the menace of using chemical substances to ripen the commodities.
The stakeholders, comprising nutritionists, health experts and consumers, made the appeal while fielding questions from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the dangers of using carbide and other unorthodox methods to ripen fruits.
They warned on the health implications of artificial ripening of fruits, saying relevant authorities should institute special task forces against the practice.
The respondents said in separate interviews that the practice was no doubt dangerous to health.
They also appealed to government at all levels to step up efforts to end artificial ripening of fruits among traders and farmers.
Mr David Achulu, a Nutritionist in Bayelsa, said although fruits are very good for the health but engaging in artificial ripening of fruits should be condemned.
He suggested that a special task force should be created to monitor and prosecute those involved in the act.
According to him, the most used chemical for artificial ripening of fruits is the calcium carbide, listing some of the fruits to include cashew, banana, mango, plantain, pawpaw and orange.
Dr Vivian Apprela, a Medical Doctor in Yenagoa, said that when such fruits are consumed, they could cause acute reactions like headache, vomiting, stomach disorders and other allergic reactions in individuals.
She said that such could in the long term lead to heart failure, skin diseases and cancer.
Apprela advised the public to wash thoroughly with water all fruits bought to reduce the surface contaminations.
Mr Paul Okon, a fruit consumer who also told NAN in Yenagoa that he was aware that fruits were being ripened artificially by some vendors, described the act as very wicked.
“Yes, some trades, unscrupulous ones are into the act of artificial ripening of fruits with a chemical called calcium carbide.
“It is bad, we call government to help us and establish special task force to end act,’’ he said.
Mrs Joy Chuka, a trader in Swali Market, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa, alleged that the act was mostly committed by the farmers and fruit sellers.
Chuka said that people could recognise fruits ripened with calcium carbide because the colour of such fruits looked dissimilar and would not be uniform.
“It has yellow and green patches unlike when it is ripened naturally. The texture of fruits ripened with carbide is hard.
“Even when it appears yellow, if you touch it, it is hard, while the one ripened naturally has soft texture,’’ she explained.
From Delta, a nutritionist in Asaba, Mr Benson Etchie, said that the act of using chemicals and other substances on fruits to force them get ripe broke the developmental chain of nutrients in the fruits.
Eugene, who is the Chief Nutritionist, Delta State Ministry of Health, told NAN in Asaba that using chemical agents to make fruits like bananas and oranges ripe would take away the natural nutrients in such fruits.
“Naturally, there is a chain of formation in the life of fruits. When the development of the acidic content does not go through this chain, such fruits lose it nutritional value to that becomes hazardous to human diet.
“This process of ripening is like a chain that allows all the natural nutrients inherent in the fruits to develop and when this process is broken by forced ripening, it denies the fruits of these nutrients.
“For example, if a naturally-ripped fruit gives you 50 milligram of vitamin C, a fruit which is forced to ripe cannot provide equal milligram because its formation process has been broken by forced ripening.’’
Etchie stressed that fruits take a natural cycle of formation which enables the complete formation of all the nutrients in the fruits to develop and boast of a balanced diet to the body system.
According to him, ripped fruits provide the human body with vitamins, proteins and iron which are essential diets that helps the body cells to fight infections.
A medical doctor, Dr Abel Okafor, also noted that the act of forcing a fruit to ripe with the use of chemical agents is dangerous to the human body.
He said that when fruits vendors use chemical agents on fruits like oranges, banana and pawpaw to make them ripe quick is very unhealthy and makes consumption of such fruits dangerous to health.
Okafor, who is the medical Director of AboCare Clinic and Maternity, Asaba, said that when certain chemical substances were in high concentration in fruits, eating such fruits would be dangerous to the human body.
“Fruits get ripe and ready for consumption naturally, so when you forced it to ripe, it makes such fruit loose its natural nutrients which are essential diet for the body.
“Also, fruit vendors who indulge in the use of chemical agents to ripe fruit are not educated, and so they do not know the required dosage of such substances there are applying on the fruits,’’ Okafor said.
A fruit vendor, Mrs Ifeoma Ukata, who sells bananas at the Summit Junction, Asaba, however, said it was wrong to allege that many fruits sellers use chemical and other acidic substances to force fruits to ripe.
“Although I am not in position to defend every fruit vendor, for me I don’t use any chemical to make my banana ripe. Bananas get ripe naturally when they are fully matured before harvesting.
“As a farmer, I know that banana and some other fruits have a life cycle of development. So when we harvest a matured banana, it only takes days for it to get ripe.
“However, most times if we run out of stock when demand is high, we cover the unripe ones with cellophane bags to give them heat, and this method makes them ripe faster for us to sell,’’ Ukatta said.
Similarly, Dr Chris Isokpunwu, Head of Nutrition, Federal Ministry of Health, warned that consumption of carbide contaminated foods or fruits affects gastrointestinal systems and predispose people to ulcer.
Isokpunwu told NAN on Sunday in Abuja that applying calcium carbide directly on vegetables and fruits was dangerous to human health.
NAN recalls that the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) to the President had earlier alerted on the health hazards inherent in the application of calcium carbide in ripening of fruits and vegetables.
The office therefore directed relevant agencies to take immediate steps to address the sales and use of calcium carbide in the country.
“Calcium carbide is a compound readily available in the market and used for oxyacetylene welding. This hazardous practice if not abated could increase the death rate as a result of cancer.
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“A publication of United States Scientific Magazine revealed that the use of Calcium Carbide in ripening process exposes the fruits to its toxic constituent elements such as Arsenic, Lead and phosphorus.
“Consumption of such fruits accumulate and become harmful to internal organs and could degenerate to cancer. Also skin contact with such fruits causes skin ulcer and pulmonary disease among pregnant women.
“Similarly, the WHO Department of Chronic Diseases had warned that fruits ripening against such as Ethylene, Ethephon and calcium carbide are some of the most widely used carcinogenic products in developing countries especially in Nigeria.
“Statistics from Ministry of Health reveals that as at January 2018 Nigeria record 250,000 cases of cancer and 10,000 deaths due to the ailment annually,’’ the ONSA noted in its alert letter.
The nutritionist noted that people have challenges consuming artificially ripened fruits because of inexperience on the part of the traders on proper or ideal ways of applying such chemicals to prevent it from coming in contact with the fruits.
Isokpunwu said “allowing the chemical to come in contact with the fruits contaminate it and if people eat such fruits without washing they inject chemical into their system’’.
According to him, those that engage in ripening fruits with carbide bring such fruits down before they are ripe and put them in a controlled environment and spread carbide around them to further speed up the ripening process.
Isokpunwu however advised the public to wash their fruits and hands thoroughly before eating to avoid injecting carbide on the fruits, adding that such chemical could probably be on the exterior of the fruits.
The nutritionist further urged the public to avoid purchasing fruits that are ripened with carbide due to the fact that those using it may be unaware of how to keep the chemical away from the fruits.
According to him, in as much as we advise on the consumption of fruits because they are source of micronutrient, vitamins and minerals you must consume the right fruits that will not endanger your life.
Isokpunwu noted that artificial ripening of fruits could be identified through uniformity in colour, adding that unlike normal or fruits that ripe naturally they do not have uniform colour.
He emphasised that artificial ripen fruits like banana are usually very bright, beautiful, attractive and uniform in colour.
“The normal fruits like banana that ripens naturally does not have a uniform yellow colour, what you see is some dirty spots, scratches.
“The key thing people should look out for while buying fruits like banana, plantain among other is the uniformity in colour,” Isokpunwu said.